<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>maybe it'll go according to plan (but we all know it won't) by SilverMoonSky</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24014398">maybe it'll go according to plan (but we all know it won't)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky'>SilverMoonSky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marichat May 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Is Not Oblivious, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Marichat May 2020, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Is So Done, but he still is oblivious in other ways, in some ways</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 06:27:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24014398</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Once Tikki had eaten, Marinette quickly transformed into Ladybug and made her way towards Françoise Dupont with only one intention in mind: to get into Adrien’s locker and grab the card. It shouldn’t have been too hard--it was evening, meaning no one was at the school, and since she was Ladybug, getting in would be a piece of cake. Then Tikki could phase through the locker, Marinette would open it and grab the card, and she’d once again transform and head home. In retrospect, it should’ve been simple.</i>
</p><p>  <i>But of course, nothing really ever went to plan when Marinette wasn’t her alter ego.</i></p><p>When Alya tells Marinette that Lila put a card in Adrien's locker confessing her feelings for him, she's determined to get it back before he can see it. Unfortunately, Marinette didn't expect running into a certain cat along the way.</p><p>Written for Day 4: Thief for Marichat May.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marichat May 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726804</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>86</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>752</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>In which Chat is not as oblivious as we all thought he was <s>in some ways; he's still oblivious though</s></p><p>Hope you enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Marinette, are you sure about this?” Tikki asked worriedly. Her chosen had been pacing around her room for the past half an hour, rambling to herself about all the things she was going to do once she got her hands on Lila.</p><p>“Of course I am!” Marinette exclaimed. “Tikki, this is terrible! Don’t you understand? Lila so obviously put that card in Adrien’s locker to make me look bad! Who knows what she wrote in there? If Alya hadn’t told me what she saw, I would’ve been doomed! I would’ve had to pack my suitcases and leave Paris, probably end up homeless, and then I never would get to have those three kids, a house, and that hamster named--”</p><p>“<em> Marinette, </em>” Tikki scolded, “snap out of it! It’s not going to be that bad.”</p><p>“Yes it is!” Marinette plopped down on her chaise and buried her face in her hands. “I’m never gonna be able to talk to him again,” she moaned.</p><p>“Yes you will,” she insisted. “If you talk to Adrien about it, he’ll understand.”</p><p>Marinette shook her head. “You know what would be a better idea? If I went over there as Ladybug and broke into--”</p><p>“No,” Tikki said, “that’s not happening. You’re not going to be a thief and steal the card.”</p><p>“But <em> technically, </em>” Marinette said, “the card doesn’t even belong to him yet! So it wouldn’t be stealing, it would be. . . . taking.” She crossed her arms over her chest, seeming satisfied with herself.</p><p>Tikki frowned. “I think it’s a bad idea, but--”</p><p>Marinette’s face lit up. “Does that mean I can do it? Great!”</p><p>“No, that’s not what I--”</p><p>“Fuel up Tikki,” Marinette said, getting up and handing her kwami some cookies, “we’re going card hunting!”</p><p>Tikki let out a sigh and nibbled at her cookies, knowing there was no way she was going to be able to talk Marinette out of this one.</p><p>Once Tikki had eaten, Marinette quickly transformed into Ladybug and made her way towards Françoise Dupont with only one intention in mind: to get into Adrien’s locker and grab the card. It shouldn’t have been too hard--it was evening, meaning no one was at the school, and since she was Ladybug, getting in would be a piece of cake. Then Tikki could phase through the locker, Marinette would open it and grab the card, and she’d once again transform and head home. In retrospect, it should’ve been simple.</p><p>But of course, nothing really ever went to plan when Marinette wasn’t her alter ego.</p><p>The first mishap was when Chat Noir decided to do an early patrol that evening. As a result, he ended up seeing Ladybug going into Françoise Dupont, and being the curious cat he is, he decided to follow her.</p><p>The second mishap was when Marinette detransformed and let Tikki phase through Adrien’s locker. Instead of quickly finishing the job like she was supposed to, however, she instead decided to linger a couple of seconds longer to admire his locker. This caused Tikki to feel like smacking her chosen on the head to knock some sense into her; the kwami wasn’t <em> that </em> rash, but really, Marinette?</p><p>The third and final mishap happened to be when Chat stumbled into the locker room to see one Marinette Dupain-Cheng standing in front of <em> his </em> locker--which was wide open--holding u some sort of piece of paper with steam coming out of her ears.</p><p>Okay, maybe that was exaggerating it a little bit. But that was the idea.</p><p>Which was why when Chat popped up behind her and asked, “whatcha doing, princess?”, Marinette wanted to be surprised. She really, <em> really </em> did. But she should’ve known that none of her plans would ever go without a hitch--including this one.</p><p>“Chat Noir!” Marinette stammered out. “What’re you doing here?”</p><p>Chat smiled, much wider than a genuine smile would’ve been. “I should be asking you that, Marinette,” he said. “Why are you at school this late?”</p><p>“Oh! I, um, I was just, er, getting something from my locker!” She blurted out, hiding the card behind her back. “Yeah! That’s what I was doing! I um, left my math textbook here and I need it for my homework!”</p><p>Chat nodded slowly. “But Marinette,” he asked innocently, “there’s no math textbook in this locker.”</p><p>Her eyes widened as she glanced into the locker and confirmed his suspicion. “Oh! That’s um, because I didn’t realize my math textbook was actually with Alya! Oh, silly me, I came here for no reason!” Marinette laughed nervously, slammed the locker shut, and turned towards the direction of the door. “I guess I’ll leave now! It was nice seeing you, Chat--”</p><p>She broke off as Chat grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back. “Nice try, princess,” he said, “now how about telling me the truth?”</p><p>Marinette gulped. “The, uh, truth? What truth? That is the truth! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”</p><p>Chat opened his mouth to point out that the locker she’d just opened most definitely wasn’t hers--because it was <em> his </em> locker! Why in the world was she snooping through <em> his </em>locker?--when his eye caught something else.</p><p>“What’s that in your hand?”</p><p>“In my. . . .” Marinette realized what he was talking about and hastily hid it behind her back. “Nothing! It’s nothing!”</p><p>Normally, Chat was not one to pry; if Marinette was in school after hours and didn’t want to tell him why, then it wasn’t his business. But the fact that she’d been rummaging through <em> his </em> locker--even if she didn’t know it--was incredibly suspicious. So Chat, completely disregarding personal boundaries, reached around her and carefully plucked what she was holding out of her hand.</p><p>“Hey!” She protested. “Chat, give that back!”</p><p>“No can do,” he said, holding up the card where she couldn’t reach it to inspect it. “So this is why you broke into that guy’s locker.”</p><p>Marinette’s face turned beet red. “It’s--it’s not what you think!”</p><p>Chat took a look at the card with a frown. There were several hearts on the front cover with the words, <em> “I love you Adrien!” </em> written in huge letters. He opened it up to see a flowing script across the paper, complete with Marinette’s name signed at the bottom. He quickly skimmed over the card. The wording in it was quite, er, interesting, and when he finally looked up at her, he didn’t even know what to think.</p><p>“I didn’t write that!” Marinette exclaimed. “Before you get any ideas, that wasn’t me! There’s no way I would ever say anything like that!”</p><p>Chat let out a sigh of relief. “I figured you wouldn’t,” he said, though he’d had his doubts for a split second. “But then why--”</p><p>“It was Lila,” Marinette said with a growl. “I don’t know what her intention was, but she put the card in Adrien’s locker on purpose.”</p><p>His eyes widened. “Lila? But I thought that--I mean, what does she have against you?” He became aware of the fact that he wasn’t Adrien right now, and that he needed to act like he didn’t already know.</p><p>“She doesn’t like me because I figured out she was lying,” Marinette said. “And she’s been doing all sorts of things to get me in trouble, like trying to get me expelled.”</p><p>He feigned surprise and let out a gasp. “That’s terrible, princess! She would have to be extremely coldhearted to ever hate someone as wonderful as you!”</p><p>Marinette’s cheeks flushed slightly at the compliment. “Thanks. But anyways, she’s just trying to embarrass me or something again. That’s why she snuck the card in Adrien’s locker.”</p><p>“How did you know the card was in his locker though?”</p><p>“Alya told me,” Marinette said. “She told me something about Lila putting the card I made for Adrien in his locker for me. And then she congratulated me for--” she suddenly broke off, seeming embarrassed.</p><p>Chat was confused. “Congratulated you? Why?”</p><p>“Nothing,” she muttered. “But that’s not important! The important thing is that now, Adrien will never see that card, and everything will be alright.”</p><p>“But why would that be so bad?” Chat cocked his head to the side. “I mean, Adrien knows that you don’t like him that way, right? So then all you would have to do is explain to him that it was a prank. . . .” he trailed off when he saw Marinette fiddling with her hands, looking extremely uncomfortable.</p><p>“It’s not that simple,” she mumbled. She seemed to be blushing even harder than she already had been.</p><p>“Wait a minute.” Chat stared at her in disbelief. “Do you. . . . have a crush on Adrien?”</p><p>“What?” Marinette’s head shot up. “No I don’t! Of course I don’t lo--like Adrien!”</p><p>But now that Chat had connected the pieces, he couldn’t seem to get the thought out of his mind. “Oh my gosh, you so do!”</p><p>“I--I don’t!” Marinette groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Chat! I don’t!”</p><p>“So <em> this </em> is why you’re so embarrassed about the card!” Chat said gleefully. However, he was self-combusting on the inside. Because <em> Marinette-- </em>kind, sweet Marinette--had a crush on him! Why did he never notice earlier? It made so much sense! The way she stuttered around his civilian self, all the sweet and kind things she’d done for him. . . .</p><p>“It’s not funny.”</p><p>“Sorry.” Chat grinned at her. “I’m just thinking, princess. Does this mean that you’ve had a crush on me <em> and </em> him all along?”</p><p>“You?” Marinette sputtered. “Why would I have a crush on you?”</p><p>Chat raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you know, the Weredad incident?”</p><p>If possible, Marinette’s face burned even more. “That’s--”</p><p>“Oh!” Chat suddenly realized something else. “Did Lila know about this? Is that why she put the card in Adrien’s locker?”</p><p>Marinette nodded. Her face seemed to be slowly receding back to its normal color as she said, “yeah. I think she was trying to make him hate me.”</p><p>“I’m sure he would never hate you, Marinette,” Chat reassured her. He was surprisingly taking this better than he expected. “In fact, if he knew about your feelings, I’m sure that--”</p><p>She suddenly seemed panicked. “You <em> can’t </em> tell him, Chat.”</p><p>Chat frowned. “Why not?”</p><p>“You have no idea how many times I’ve tried,” she said, “and it never worked out. Besides, I don’t even know if he feels the same way.”</p><p><em> Do I? </em> Chat thought. <em> I’ve been in love with Ladybug for so long, but. . . . I don’t know where my feelings for Marinette lie. </em></p><p>“Well--”</p><p>“Anyways,” Marinette said, shaking her head, “that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Adrien never gets to see that card, and Lila won’t make my life miserable.” She looked out the window, where the sun was now setting. “I should probably get home now.”</p><p>“Don’t worry princess!” Chat said cheerfully as he scooped her up in his arms. “I’ll bring you home!”</p><p>Marinette rolled her eyes. “I think I know how to walk, Chat,” she said.</p><p>“That’s okay.” He grinned at her. “Going by superhero is <em> way </em> faster. And besides, this way we can figure out a way to expose Lila’s lies.”</p><p>(Of course, Chat didn’t stop to think about exactly <em> how </em> Marinette got into the school. He hadn’t gotten past that level of obliviousness yet.)</p><p>“Wait.” Marinette looked up at him, surprised. “You mean that?”</p><p>“Yup!” He walked out of the locker room and launched himself towards the rooftop. “Lila shouldn’t be allowed to get away with what she did.”</p><p>“But how?” Marinette asked.</p><p>“We’ll figure it out,” Chat said, “just trust me.”</p><p>And surprisingly enough, she did.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As of now I've planned for this fic to have 2 more chapters, but that might change. Each chapter will be a prompt from Marichat May, so they'll be updated before the end of the month :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Marinette and Chat get together to make a plan.</p><p>Written for Day 6: Hold My Baton for Marichat May.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next evening, Chat transformed and went over to Marinette’s balcony with only one thought in mind: to figure out a way to expose Lila for good. After mulling over what had happened yesterday for a decent amount of the night, Chat had realized something: what he’d said to Marinette about Lila earlier had been wrong. Lila was clearly not just trying to lie her way into becoming popular; she was hurting other people in the process. Yes, she’d gotten Marinette expelled, but he assumed he’d taken care of that after he made that deal with her. But apparently not. Which meant that despite what she’d told him, she was continuing to hurt the people he loved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He now knew to what extent Lila was willing to go to undermine the people who were standing in her way. Adrien may not have been able to help Marinette in the way she needed, but Chat Noir was determined to set his past mistakes aside (even if she didn’t know that had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> yet) and instead make amends through his alter ego.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Purriness!” Chat called once he’d landed on Marinette’s balcony and tapped on her trapdoor. “Your favorite cat is here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette opened the trapdoor with an exasperated look on her face. She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re the </span>
  <em>
    <span>only</span>
  </em>
  <span> cat that visits me, Chat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly! Which must mean that I’m your favorite.” He grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes. “Come in,” she said, “I have a lot to tell you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Purrfect,” he said, following her inside. He knew exactly what she was going to say--the drama between Marinette and Lila had been the biggest thing in class that day--but was curious to hear her side of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But first off,” Marinette said, “are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure</span>
  </em>
  <span> you want to do this? I mean, I know you volunteered, but I don’t want to bother you or anything just because I couldn’t handle my own problems--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I want to help,” Chat said as he made himself comfortable on her chaise. “Trust me, I’ve never really liked Lila either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hesitantly fiddled with her fingers. “I mean, you’re getting yourself into a lot that doesn’t even involve you. Imagine if the press found out Chat Noir was involved in civilian drama. Wouldn’t that trouble both you and Ladybug?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette,” Chat said earnestly, “Really. I want to help. What Lila’s doing isn’t right, and if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette flushed with color. “Thanks,” she muttered, ducking her head in embarrassment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Besides,” Chat said, “at the very least, I’ll help you spill your feelings to this Agreste kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She promptly choked on thin air. “What?” she croaked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have a crush on him,” Chat said, “and you haven’t asked him out—which you totally should, by the way—so if we can’t expose Lila, at least we can do that!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chat!” Marinette whined, burying her face in her hands. “Stop!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Chat cocked his head to the side. “You’ll never know if he likes you if you don’t ask.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was true. Kind of. Wait. Why was he giving Marinette this advice again? In case he’d forgotten, Chat quickly reminded himself that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the Agreste kid that she had a crush on, and if she took his advice to ask </span>
  <em>
    <span>himself</span>
  </em>
  <span> out, then that meant he would have to break her heart—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But no, Chat would never do that, not in a million years. Marinette was too amazing for that. She was kind, sweet, beautiful, so incredibly helpful, talented, and was their everyday Ladybug! Chat couldn’t recall the last time he’d thought of Marinette without it bringing a smile to his face. Because she was just </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> wonderful. Despite the fact that he was in love with Ladybug—who, he now realized, had never really been within his reach—if Marinette asked him out, he would. . . .</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He would say yes. The new profound realization was startling, and yet. . . . it was the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I always make myself look like a fool when I’m around him!” She exclaimed. “How am I ever supposed to ask him out?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll figure it out, princess,” he said, not knowing what else to say. His heart clenched at the thought of Marinette dancing around his civilian self. “You always do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette smiled at him. “Thanks </span>
  <em>
    <span>minou</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat frowned at the nickname—it was one Ladybug usually used with him—but shrugged it off. It was probably just a coincidence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(And of course, it probably was also just a coincidence that Marinette and Ladybug both happened to be in the school the previous evening. But cut him some slack; he hadn’t thought about Ladybug being there ever since he got roped into the whole Marinette and Lila situation.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyways,” Chat said, “you said you had a lot to fill me in on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” Marinette nodded and took a seat beside him on the chaise. She turned to face him. “Yeah. Lila definitely wasn’t pleased with how everything went down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned forward, intrigued. “Please do tell.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette quickly recounted how she’d gone up to Lila shortly after class had been over, and told her that she knew about the card. Apparently, Alya had accidentally caught the brunette slipping the card in Adrien’s locker, which was why she’d made the excuse that Marinette told her to give it to him. Unfortunately, it had backfired. Needless to say, Lila had been pissed. Although he hadn’t heard much, this was the part Chat already knew; he’d been lingering at the doorway after class in order to listen to their conversation a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then Marinette started saying things he </span>
  <em>
    <span>hadn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> heard while eavesdropping. Things that, quite literally, made his blood boil.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait wait wait, hold my baton.” Chat put his hands up and shook his head in disbelief. “She said </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette growled. “She said that if I didn’t give the card to Adrien, she would make sure he got pulled out of school! Can you believe the nerve of her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was speechless. “But--but </span>
  <em>
    <span>how?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he stammered out. “Surely Lila doesn’t have the connections to do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Apparently,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she’s Mr. Agreste’s new ‘muse’ or whatever, so she believes it gives her some leverage,” Marinette explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat’s eyes widened. That would actually make a lot of sense, now that he thought about it. Gabriel wasn’t normally one to hire a model that didn’t have any background in the career, but if said model had agreed to keep an eye on his son, well then. . . .</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s given me two days to give me the card to him,” she said. “And if I don’t before then, she said she’d talk to Mr. Agreste. And I can’t let Adrien get pulled out of school!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like him a lot, don’t you?” Chat murmured quietly, touched that Marinette cared so much about his well being.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I—” she broke off and blushed. “Yeah. I do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat felt his ears turn pink. “Well then, I guess we’re gonna have to do something about Lila soon. That way, you can ask the boy of your dreams out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chat,” Marinette groaned, but there was a huge grin on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He simply smirked. “Come on, princess,” he said, “you need to ask him out sooner or later. And I’ll make sure Lila doesn’t get in the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But do you have a plan?” she asked. “Lila isn’t exactly the easiest person to deal with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think,” Chat said slowly, “I have an idea.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Chat figures out something important, and he and Mari put their plan in motion.</p>
<p>Written for Day 17: Balcony for Marichat May.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I put off writing this chapter for so long because I wasn’t sure how to proceed with exposing Lila; there are just way too many ways it could go. I still think the plan I have in mind isn’t entirely foolproof, but I hope it satisfies you all :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For the next several hours, Chat and Marinette spent their time gathering evidence that would refute Lila’s claims. Despite it being quite late at night, Marinette managed to get confirmation from Jagged Stone over FaceTime that he’d never owned a kitten or written a song about “some random teenage girl” (his words, not hers). Chat searched the internet for the supposed charities Lila had donated to and took screenshots when he couldn’t find them. It wasn’t nearly enough--after all, there was so much more evidence they could get--but considering their time restraint, it was decent enough.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I could ask Rose to ask Prince Ali,” Marinette said, “but then she’d be curious about why I suddenly wanted to get a hold of him, and knowing Rose, she’d casually mention it to someone who could tell Lila. So that’s not an option.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That makes sense. Wait, didn’t she also lie about Ladybug being her best friend?” Chat asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette nodded as she uploaded the video and various screenshots to a file on her computer. “Yeah, she even did an interview for the Ladyblog.” She huffed in indignation. “I can’t imagine why she’d willingly put herself at risk like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chat hummed in agreement. “I could get Ladybug to make a video too,” he said thoughtfully. “In fact, I could probably contact her now.” He pulled out his baton and quickly began typing up a message.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t really think that’s necessary,” Marinette said hastily. “I mean, surely Ladybug has better things to do than to intervene in civilian problems.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Trust me, knowing how she feels about liars, Ladybug will definitely want to help.” Chat’s mind snapped back to when his partner had aggressively called out Lila for lying about being a superhero. It had been enough to akumatize her. Though Ladybug had apologized, Chat knew Lila still held a grudge against his lady, because she’d ruined her chances with Adrien.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not that Adrien would want to date Lila. Even if he hadn’t figured out her lies, he was too in love with Mar--Ladybug to consider it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. Why had his mind gone to Marinette first?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Probably because she mentioned she likes Adrien,</span>
  </em>
  <span> his mind helpfully supplied. Chat was inclined to immediately agree with that, and yet. . . .</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, did you know Lila claimed to be a superhero?” Chat asked Marinette, steering clear of the tangle of thoughts in his mind. He decided now wasn’t the time to reminisce over that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he said. “Ladybug called her out in front of Adrien, and that’s why she got akumatized into Volpina. So you could use that piece of evidence too. Adrien would definitely help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Speaking of Adrien,” Marinette said with a frown, “you still haven’t told me what you’re planning to do about the card.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Patience, princess.” Chat grinned. “I have a plan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She bit her lip. “But what if Adrien doesn’t want to help? What if he still thinks not confronting her is the best option?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette avoided his gaze, as if her eyes would betray that she cared more than she let on. Chat’s heart clenched. Exactly how much had his words hurt her? Why did he ever think taking the high road was a good idea? There were a lot of things Adrien hadn’t learned while being homeschooled, but if there was anything he wished he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> learned, it would be that sometimes, confrontation was the only way to solve problems.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think Adrien realizes he was wrong,” Chat said quietly. His sudden change of demeanor had Marinette looking at him in surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, he’s not necessarily </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she said. However, it was clear from the way she fiddled with her fingers and refused to make eye contact that her defense of him was half hearted. “He just has a different approach to solving problems than I do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But this time, his approach to the problem wasn’t right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette’s silence said everything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wonder why Ladybug hasn’t answered my message yet,” Chat muttered, deciding to change the subject. He’d have plenty of time to apologize as his civilian self later. “She usually answers me fairly quickly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe she’s busy?” Marinette offered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Chat said, though he wasn’t convinced. What if something had happened to her? After all, the last time he’d seen her was yesterday at the school, and--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Marinette,” he said suddenly, “did you see Ladybug at all yesterday?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For some reason, she immediately stiffened. “N-no. Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She was at Françoise Dupont yesterday too! I saw her go in there!” Chat felt panic rising within him. “She hasn’t contacted me at all! Yesterday was </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> solo patrol, but she was transformed, and I haven’t seen her since--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Chat</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she interrupted, “I’m sure Ladybug’s fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And when I went inside looking for Ladybug, I found you instead,” he continued, “and I completely forgot about her! I haven’t thought of her since I dropped you off at your balcony last night! I don’t even know what she was doing at the school! There’s no reason for her to have been there, unless--” Chat broke off as something else occurred to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Unless?” Marinette prompted. She’d stopped whatever she was doing on the computer and now turned to face him with an unreadable expression on her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Unless she was there for the same reason you were, to steal something.” He laughed. “But that’s silly. Ladybug wouldn’t do that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The room was suddenly very, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> quiet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait a minute--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Marinette,” Chat breathed, “are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ladybug?”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>hope</span>
  </em>
  <span> you plan on giving Adrien that card,” Lila said, waltzing into the empty bathroom and leaning against the wall to examine her fingernails. “Because I’d hate for him to get pulled out of school all because you couldn’t bring up the courage to confess.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette sighed and turned off the faucet. “I know,” she said as she walked over to dry her hands, “you don’t have to remind me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you know what’ll happen if you even thought of tampering with what was written in there,” Lila said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.” Lila smirked at her. “I told you, didn’t I? What would happen if you got in my way? Now, when Adrien realizes you have a stalkerish crush on him, he’ll </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to date you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took all of her self-control not to last out at Lila right then and there. Marinette knew perfectly well that Lila was banking on the fact that she’d never confessed, and despite current circumstances, she wouldn’t. Because Marinette had never had the courage to do so earlier. So why in the world would she confess now?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hated that it was true; she </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> couldn’t bring herself to confess to Adrien. To anyone else, if Marinette claimed Lila was trying to sabotage her, she could simply say she was pushing Marinette in the right direction. And the class would believe her. Of course they would. Marinette really had no chance of telling Adrien about this beforehand without confessing. Lila knew that. And if she did, Lila would know because his reaction wouldn’t be what she was expecting. Then she’d get him pulled out of school anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were just so many things that could go wrong. Even if by some miracle, Adrien didn’t care about what was in the card, Lila could still tell everyone else in the class, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>they</span>
  </em>
  <span> most certainly would care. . . .</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> hoped whatever Chat had told Adrien would work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At her silence, Lila simply smiled and brushed past her. “This is what happens when you’re against me,” she said, “and trust me, this is just the beginning.” And with that, the bathroom door slammed as she walked out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took several minutes for Marinette to compose herself after that encounter. After that, she took a deep breath and walked towards the courtyard where her class was spending their free hour. This would only work if she did it in front of the whole class. She spotted Adrien off to the side, chatting with Nino.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Adrien?” Marinette said, walking up to him. “I have something to give you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d said it loud enough for the rest of the class to turn in their direction. Marinette saw Alya nudge Lila’s arm excitedly, while the girls looked equally eager. The guys looked over at them in curiosity as she pulled out the card to give to Adrien.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this for me?” he asked, surprised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette nodded, and Adrien took the card from her outstretched hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She held her breath as Adrien’s eyes skimmed over the card. What if Adrien didn’t believe what Chat had told him? What if he didn’t want to help? What if he thought of her as a stalker anyway and he’d hate her and she’d never get a chance to tell him how she felt when she was finally ready and--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mari, this is really sweet of you,” Adrien said, looking at her with confusion (wow, he was an excellent actor), “but you’ve confessed to me already. You did that on Tuesday. I already know how you feel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tuesday had been the day Lila planted the card in Adrien’s locker. Wednesday was the day Lila threatened Marinette. And Thursday, </span>
  <em>
    <span>today,</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the day all her lies were about to come tumbling down. But Adrien was lying; she’d never confessed to him, much less--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait. So Chat’s strategy had been to. . . . </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell </span>
  </em>
  <span>Adrien how she felt?! She thought she’d specifically told him that she wasn’t comfortable with that! And now Lila would most definitely pull Adrien out of school! This was a disaster!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(What she didn’t know, however, was that Chat had plans that would ensure Adrien wouldn’t be pulled out of school. Specifically, it involved having a talk with his father.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y-yeah,” Marinette said, ignoring her increasing panic, “I know. It’s just that, um, Lila told me to give you that card because she thought it would help.” By now, the rest of their classmates were all surrounding them, clearly interested in whatever was happening between them. Lila was now glaring at her, Alya seemed confused, and everyone else was skeptical.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lila?” Adrien asked, feigning ignorance. “Why did she do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette took out her phone and took a deep breath. Gosh, she really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> hoped Chat’s faith in this plan would help her pull this off. This was the hardest part. But if it went the way she wanted it to. . . . she’d never have to deal with Lila again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because she’s a liar. And I have all the evidence right here.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just to be clear, Chat now knows Mari's identity, but she doesn't know he's Adrien yet. Also, if you find any inconsistencies in this plan so far, feel free to let me know! This is the first "exposing Lila lies" fic I've written (and wow, it's a lot harder to write than I thought it would be), so any feedback would be appreciated :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Lila's lies come undone.</p><p>Written for Day 26: Toe Beans for Marichat May.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Marinette,” Chat breathed, “are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ladybug?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette’s eyes widened in shock. “What?! I—I don’t know what you’re talking about! Of course I’m not Ladybug, I’m way too clumsy to be Ladybug!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But once Chat had put the pieces together, he couldn’t unsee it. How had he been so blind? Her identity had been so obvious! Of course Marinette was Ladybug! They had so many similar personality traits, neither had been seen in the same place as one another—well, there was Kwamibuster, but now that Chat thought about it, that was probably an illusion, since of course his lady was smart enough to cover her tracks—and heck, he’d even called Marinette their “everyday Ladybug”! Why had he never seen it before?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that wasn’t all. The more he thought about everything that had just happened, something else occurred to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait</span>
  </em>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Did this mean that this entire time, Chat had been rejected by Ladybug. . . . for </span>
  <em>
    <span>himself?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so stupid,” he muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! Yes, you are!” Marinette exclaimed. “Of course I’m not Ladybug! Why would </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> be a superhero, I’m just—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My lady,” Chat said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “relax. It’s not the end of the world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gave up on trying to deny it and let out a groan. “You aren’t supposed to know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To be fair,” Chat said, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one that went into the school without checking to see if anyone else was around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How was I supposed to know you would start an early patrol?” Marinette asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “I didn’t think anyone was watching me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat grinned. “Well, bugaboo, looks like the </span>
  <em>
    <span>cat</span>
  </em>
  <span> is out of the bag.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes. “You were saving that just for this, weren’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He simply shrugged, and silence settled between them when they continued to work on separate things. She tried to process what had just happened. Chat had figured out her identity—which wasn’t necessarily as bad as she thought, since technically she outed herself—and he didn’t seem too bothered about it. But suddenly, she realized something else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Marinette said, “Chat. You realize that you just tried to set me up with another guy, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You tried to set me up with someone else, but now that you know </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m </span>
  </em>
  <span>the one you have feelings for. . . .”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” he said, looking at her sheepishly, “I didn’t realize you were Ladybug until a couple of minutes ago, and if I’d known earlier, I admit I might have not tried to set you up with Adrien.” Chat paused. “But what’s important is if you’re happy. Even if it’s not with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And technically, I’m also setting you up with </span>
  </em>
  <span>myself</span>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <span>came to mind, but she didn’t need to know that yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I—oh.” Marinette’s face burned. “That’s um, really sweet of you, Chat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled. “Now, why don’t we get back to what we were working on?”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“Girl, what’s all this about Lila lying?” Alya said, exasperated. “I thought we already agreed she’s not a liar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Mari,” Alix piped up. “Lila was just trying to help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She helped you confess to Adrien!” Mylène said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of their classmates started pitching in their own opinions. Lila stood still at the side of the crowd, smirking in her direction when no one else was looking. Marinette could barely breathe. She clutched her phone tightly, biting her lip, thinking of how this probably wasn’t such a good idea and she should let it go and no one would ever believe her because why in the world would they listen to </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we all please just listen to my girlfriend?” Adrien asked loudly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instantly everyone in the courtyard fell silent as they processed what he’d just said. Alya was the one that broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wh-what? Since when is Marinette your girlfriend?” she demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When Mari confessed to me the other day, she asked me out,” Adrien explained. He looked over at Marinette and smiled softly at her. “And I said yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette felt faint. And livid. At Chat, specifically. Because that never happened! She never confessed to him! They weren’t dating! And she also felt shocked, and bewildered, and oh my gosh did Adrien Agreste just smile at her as if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> liked her back—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t care how cute cats were. Their paws may have cute toe beans, but they still had claws. Chat may be sweet and well meaning, but he’d also just </span>
  <em>
    <span>confessed</span>
  </em>
  <span> her feelings to Adrien himself! When she’d specifically told him not to!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet somehow, just like he’d told her, he’d managed to set her up with the love of her life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette had no idea whether or not to smack him on the head or give her partner the hug he deserved the next time she saw him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aww, how romantic!” Rose gushed. “So Lila </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> help you guys when she put the card in your locker!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um actually, no,” Marinette said, coming back to a reality where apparently Adrien was her boyfriend and everyone thought Lila had supposedly helped them get together—which technically was true? “I ended up taking the card out of Adrien’s locker.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you do that?” Alya asked. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span> made that card. All Lila did was put it in your locker.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook her head. “I didn’t make it! And I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> ask Lila to put a card in Adrien’s locker for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Besides, Marinette doesn’t write like this,” Adrien said, holding up the card. “Here, read it yourself.” He started to hand it over to Alya when suddenly, Lila snatched it out of his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I—I was only trying to help! I saw how much Marinette likes Adrien and well, I wanted to help you get together!” Lila smiled sweetly at the rest of the class, but Marinette could tell that she was saying the words through gritted teeth. “And now you’re together, aren’t they?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Alya said with a frown, “Lila, did you have Mari’s permission to put the card in Adrien’s locker?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Marinette scowled. “She didn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alya turned to Lila. “That’s not cool, girl. You told me Mari agreed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought she did!” Lila protested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But then what about the writing in the card?” Adrien asked. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> wasn’t unintentional. I know for a fact you’re good at telling people what they want to hear, but that card you wrote for Marinette paints her in a bad light.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By now, the rest of the class was whispering amongst themselves, questioning whether or not what Adrien was saying was true. After all, he’d always avoided conflict, and if he was openly confronting someone, it meant something. Lila clutched the card harder against her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Adrien,” she said, fake tears welling up in her eyes. “I was only trying to help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps we can see the card?” Max asked. “If we saw it, we can judge whether or not what Adrien says is true.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good idea,” Kim said. “Lila, can we see it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Alix agreed. “Adrien’s probably just overreacting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette almost growled. They thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>Adrien</span>
  </em>
  <span> was overreacting?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lila looked around the yard frantically. “Ouch! My arthritis is acting up! I need to go to the nurse!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, do you need any help?” Mylène asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s okay, I think I can get there myself. Thanks, though!” Lila practically sprinted out of the courtyard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of their classmates exchanged baffled looks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s lying to you,” Marinette said with no remorse. “Just like everything else that came out of her mouth was a lie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And with that, giving no one time to protest, she took out her phone and pressed </span>
  <em>
    <span>play.</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Marinette was honestly surprised how quickly Lila’s lies came tumbling down. Once one lie was found, the rest unraveled as well, leaving most of her classmates in absolute shock. Curses were yelled, apologizes were given, and of course, screams of the inevitable akuma had been heard in the distance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but really, she should’ve known better. And now, Lila had been akumatized once again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before she could stutter out some lame excuse and run away to transform, someone else grabbed her arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Adrien, what’re you doing?” she asked as he pulled her away from where the akuma was wreaking havoc. “You need to get to safety!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So do you,” he said. They ended up stumbling into an empty classroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gosh,” Marinette said, “Lila is going to pull you out of school now that that happened. I’m so sorry!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “I already had a talk with my father about it. Apparently, he had no idea Lila was throwing his name around like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” She let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded. “Yeah. By the way, thank you, Marinette. For caring so much about the situation and trying to face Lila on your own.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Chat Noir,” she confessed. “He helped me a lot.” Speaking of Chat. . . . she needed to go transform.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I um, nice talk, but I need to go to the bathroom,” she said. She tried to bolt out of the door, but Adrien blocked her way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Mari,” he said, “I know you’re Ladybug.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instantly all the praise she felt for Chat vanished. “O-oh, do you now?” she could practically feel steam coming out of her ears. “Did </span>
  <em>
    <span>Chat Noir</span>
  </em>
  <span> tell you that too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien frowned. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She started to pace the room. “That stupid cat,” she muttered, “first he tells you that I like him, then he tells you to claim that we’re dating, and now he told you that I’m Ladybug!” she threw her arms up in the air, annoyed. “What do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien smirked. Oh, so </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> was what this was about? “To be fair, my lady, you’re the one that confessed your feelings right in front of me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Time seemed to slow as his words caught up with her. She gasped. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Chat?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grinned. “The one and only.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wait. So this entire time, she’d been discussing and pouring her heart out about her feelings for Adrien to Chat. . . . who was </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>Adrien?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette’s mouth dropped open. “Adrien. You tried to set me up with </span>
  <em>
    <span>yourself</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rubbed the back of his head with a hand sheepishly. “Well. . . .”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe it,” she said. “You—you set me up with </span>
  <em>
    <span>yourself.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I believe we have an akuma to defeat, princess,” Adrien said. His face was red. “We’ll have plenty of time to discuss all of this later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re just trying to avoid the fact that you tried setting me up with </span>
  <em>
    <span>yourself,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she deadpanned, repeating the statement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I do like you!” he blurted out. Marinette’s eyes widened. “I really do like you, Mari, and not just because I found out you’re Ladybug.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Marinette’s cheeks tinted with pink. “So does this mean. . . .”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I meant what I said earlier,” he said, “with the um, dating stuff. If you asked me out, I would say yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>bang</span>
  </em>
  <span> suddenly interrupted them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Akuma,” she said, pointing at the door. Adrien blushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Adrien quickly called on his transformation, Marinette following suit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But,” Ladybug said before she stepped out of the door, “for the record, I’d love to go out with you once this is all over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat’s grin could’ve rivaled her own, and with that promise between them, they went out to fight the akuma. It wasn’t long before once one Lila Rossi was deakumatized, and though they weren’t sure what was to come of her, Marinette did hear something about the class planning to contact the school board to make sure they knew of her lies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Marinette? Well, she was on cloud nine. Even if at first this hadn't gone to plan, what now mattered was the fact that it worked. Her plan had actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>worked </span>
  </em>
  <span>(with Chat’s help, of course). She’d exposed Lila, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> she’d somehow also gotten together with the love of her life. One mishap in her plan led to all of this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she was determined to make the best of it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not too happy with the way this fic turned out. It went in a completely different direction than I anticipated, and I'm not really sure it covered everything that I wanted it to. But regardless, I hope you enjoyed it :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>